Living At Hogwarts 2
by Black Night
Summary: **SEQUAL TO LIVING AT HOGWARTS** Harry, Draco and Jem are all grown up and starting school at Hogwarts. What will happen to them? Chapter 5 WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Any possibility of me owning Harry Potter is completely bogus. Please do not think that I really own him. Everything you recognize is owned by the great talented JKR. Again, that's not me.  
  
  
  
Summary: Sequel to Living At Hogwarts. Harry, Draco and Jem are starting their first year as students at Hogwarts. Who will they meet? Friends? Enemies? And sometimes, they feel they are living only to die. READ!  
  
  
  
AN This is the sequel to Living At Hogwarts. If you haven't read that, please do so, as it will make much more sense if you do. This story will not be slash in any kind, though it will have loads of characters OOC. Please do not flame, as I have many not so nice ways of dealing with them. Enjoy!  
  
"^^blah-blah^^" = Elfish  
  
  
  
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Chapter 1  
  
  
  
Jemera Grazer, or Jem for short, bounced into her best friends, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy's bedrooms and leap on each of their beds in turn.  
  
"Wake up lazy butts!" She hollered, "Today's Harry's birthday and Grandpapa said that he was going to take us somewhere really special today!"  
  
Two well aimed pillows made their way towards the ten year old girl and she ducked, grinning madly.  
  
"Go 'way, Jem," came a voice from the bed near the wall, "it's six thirty in the morning."  
  
"Exactly!" Jem cried, jumping out of the way of another pillow. "Besides, Severus said that if you two weren't up by the time he came to wake you up, that he wasn't going to let you go at all!"  
  
That got them up.  
  
At nearly the same time, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy jumped out of their dungeon room beds and flew towards their respective wardrobe and began throwing on shorts and tee shirts. Then they dove under their beds, searching for socks and shoes.  
  
Actually, Draco had a little tougher time, as his full grown cat, Peaches, tripped him up. The blond half-elf hit the ground hard and started swearing in Elfish.  
  
Jem watched, looking amused, and suddenly Harry sat up and turned around.  
  
"He didn't really say that, did he?" Harry accused, shaking one semi-clean sock at the girl.  
  
Jem giggled, "Maybe. Maybe not." She skipped out of their room and right into Severus. "Morning Severus," she chirped before skipping around him and out into the hall and up to the Great Hall for breakfast.  
  
Severus smiled and walked into the boys' room. "Good morning boys, and happy birthday, Harry," he smiled at the boy. "Eleven years old, best wishes for you this year."  
  
Harry beamed and pulled on his shoe. "Thank you Severus," he grinned.  
  
Severus pulled out a large package from behind his back. "I believe that this if for you, the best present you'll receive on this fine day."  
  
Harry took the gift and proceeded to open it. It was a cage with a large snowy owl in it.  
  
"Her name is Hedwig," Severus told the ecstatic boy. "She can deliver all your mail and things for you."  
  
"Thank you Severus!" Harry cried out, carefully placing the cage down and jumping into the mans arms. "It's the best present ever!"  
  
"That's what you say now!" Draco exclaimed, digging under his bed, "but look at this, its loads better!"  
  
Hedwig hooted in an insulted sort of way.  
  
Draco ignored the owl and handed his best friend a small square book shaped package. Harry eagerly tore it open and was amazed to find that it contained pictures of him and his best friends.  
  
"Grandmamma helped me make it," Draco explained. "She said that no matter what happens in life, that you'll always remember your first friends. And that this is a way to help."  
  
Harry smiled at Draco. "I think that they're both equally great presents," he said, causing both Severus and Draco to pout somewhat.  
  
Harry ignored them and let Hedwig out of her cage and smiled as she came to a rest on his shoulder and nipped him gently on the ear before flying over to his and Draco's shared desk and perching there.  
  
A sudden interruption stopped any more conversation from carrying on. Albus Dumbledore popped his head into the room and smiled.  
  
"If you two boys don't mind, I think we have somewhere to be today. And standing in your bedroom exchanging gifts isn't exactly helping us get to where we need to be." He smiled, "happy birthday, Harry," he said, "by the way."  
  
Harry smiled.  
  
"Severus," Albus said sharply, causing the other occupants of the room to jump. "Please bring Harry and Draco's breakfasts' up to my office. I need to explain to them and Jem where we're going to day, and how they need to behave."  
  
Severus nodded.  
  
"Come along, boys," Albus then smiled at them, "we have a big day ahead of us. And we don't want to be wasting it here inside a stuffy old castle."  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
"We're going to the zoo; we're going to the zoo!" Jem sang, skipping around her surrogate family. "This is going to be so much fun!"  
  
Harry and Draco laughed and started skipping with her, nearly tripping up Albus. The old man smiled at the three children and stepped in line behind a small family. Suddenly, Harry accidentally knocked into one of the boy's standing in front of him and they both fell to the ground.  
  
"Watch it!" The boy spat, pushing Harry off of him and standing up.  
  
"Sorry," Harry said, getting up himself. "I didn't mean to-"  
  
The other boy didn't answer, he just glared and turned around again.  
  
"Didn't you hear me?" Harry asked, "I said-"  
  
Finally the boy turned around. He was blond, pink and porky, not to mention slightly scraped up from his fall. "Yes I heard you," he snapped, "I just chose not to answer. Can you get that through you mind, four- eyes?"  
  
Albus frowned at the boy and went to say something to the parents, but they were ignoring the children, stepping up to the cashier and paying admission.  
  
Harry frowned; a single tear leaking down his cheek, but only after the chubby child had turned away and followed his parents into the park.  
  
"^^Don't listen to him, Harry,^^" Jem said softly, "^^he's one of those spoiled kids that Grandmamma always tells us about.^^"  
  
Harry nodded but didn't say anything.  
  
"^^Jem's right,^^" Draco said, equally softly, "^^I wouldn't waste my time with him if I were you. Today's your birthday, Harry! You should be happy!^^"  
  
Harry nodded again, a small smiled drifting onto his face. "^^Thanks you guys,^^" he whispered, taking each of their hands and walking with them into the park.  
  
The three children managed to forget all about the hateful boy as they wandered around the park, pausing to look at all of the animals. Their face muscles were slightly sore from smiling and laughing so much as Albus took pictures, but they didn't mind. For lunch, they went to the zoo restaurant for lunch, where they again saw the boy, (currently yelling to his parents that his desert didn't have enough ice-cream on top).  
  
Harry snickered lightly and while Albus wasn't looking, sent a single strand of magic at the boy, causing his 'non-existent' ice-cream to splatter on top of his head. Draco laughed loudly when he saw what Harry had done, and Jem just giggled. Albus shook his head and sighed, finished his meal and asked for a special treat for the birthday boy, before paying the bill and herding them towards the Reptile House.  
  
Once again they saw the two boys, this time pressed up against a snake glass, ogling over the giant Boa-Constrictor in the tank. Harry gave them a dirty look and quickly went towards another window and stared at a small Gartner snake that was snoozing, coiled around a broken tree branch.  
  
"That must be uncomfortable," Harry muttered.  
  
He certainly wasn't expecting it when the snake raised its head and nodded before rolling its eyes and slowly moving away from its branch.  
  
Harry's mouth fell open. "Can you--" he gulped, "can you *hear* me?"  
  
The snake nodded calmly, looking slightly amused.  
  
"It's just," Harry paused again, glancing around to see if anyone was watching. "I've never talked to a snake before. . . do you, no wait, do you talk to people often?"  
  
The snake shook its head, it looked somewhat sad.  
  
"Why not?" Harry asked, but he didn't get an answer, because at that moment, the rude boy suddenly ran smack into Harry. Harry fell with a thud, and without meaning to, he let a bit of magic go, it flew straight into the snake glass he had just been looking into.  
  
The snake rapidly uncoiled itself and flopped its way onto the ground, hissing at the boy that tried to stomp on it.  
  
"Hey!" Harry cried, knocking the boy over again and scooping up the small snake. "What were you doing that for? He didn't go anything to you!"  
  
The snake curled around Harry's left arm, lifting its head and hissing wildly at the fat boy.  
  
"Stupid boy!" it hissed, "I'll teach him to try and stomp me!" It then turned its head up towards Harry, "let me go! Let me bite him! I'm not poisonous, it won't really hurt him!"  
  
But Harry had a better idea. With a careful flick of his right wrist, the glass keeping the boa from the rest of the world quickly disappeared, and the large snake quickly moved from its imprisonment, slithering towards Harry and hissing a quiet, "Brazil, here I come- thankssss amigo."  
  
The snake then nipped the boy's ankles and quickly slithered away into screams and cries of fear and shouting that a snake was loose.  
  
"I like your way better," the smaller snake declared, readjusting itself on Harry's arm and watching as the stunned boy tripped into the now empty Boa constrictor tank and the glass pop back into place. The boy, who remained somewhat calm until he made to get out of the tank, quickly began banging on it, screaming out for his mother.  
  
A woman pressed herself against the tank and started screaming out "DUDLEY, HOW IN THE DEVILS NAME DID YOU GET IN THERE!" but she didn't stop there, she continued screaming with "DURLSEY! DURSLEY! YOUR SON IS TRAPPED, WHAT IF HE CAN'T BREATH! DON'T WORRY DUDDY-KINS, I'LL GET YOU OUT OF THERE!"  
  
There was a gentle tug on Harry's sleeve and the black haired boy turned to see both Jem and Draco frowning at him, although mirth was dancing in their eyes.  
  
"^^What did you do?^^" Jem demanded, trying desperately to keep the giggles out of her voice.  
  
"^^It's not like I meant to,^^" Harry pouted, discreetly pulling down the sleeve of his sweat-shirt to cover the green snake. "^^He was trying to stomp a snake and I got mad. So, I err, accidentally let another snake out at him.^^"  
  
"^^'Accidentally', sure, I believe that,^^" Draco snorted, "^come on Harry, you can do better then that!^^"  
  
Harry noticed a shadow fall over them and spun around to give Albus an award winning innocent smile.  
  
"Hello Grandpapa," he chirped, "are we going soon?"  
  
Albus chucked at the child and nodded. "If you're all ready to go, we have a bit of time left before we have to be back up at school. I was thinking maybe seeing a Muggle movie."  
  
Harry nodded eagerly, smiling as he felt smooth scales move against his arm. This was most obviously the best birthday ever.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
The next day, Severus took Harry, Draco and Jem to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies. He led the three children into a large white stoned building and handed each of them a key.  
  
"These are keys to your vaults," Severus explained. "You'll need to show them to one of those Goblins up there and he'll take you down you your vaults. I want the three of you to stick together, and no wandering outside of the alley. And do *not* use any magic, Harry, because you Albus told you not to, especially after the snake episode yesterday." Severus smiled. "I'll meet you back at the Leaky Cauldron at five o'clock for dinner. No later." With that he turned and with a swish of his long black robe he disappeared into the crowd.  
  
Harry Draco and Jem looked at each other before cautiously approaching one of the open stations.  
  
"Excuse me," Jem said, standing on tip-toe to see the goblin. "We would like to go down to our vaults please."  
  
The goblin nodded. "I expect you have your keys?"  
  
The three held up their nearly identical keys.  
  
"All seems to be in order, Griphook, please escort these three down to their respective vaults."  
  
"^^Look,^^" Harry said, before they disappeared underground. "^^It's Hagrid!^^"  
  
But the other two didn't see him before the packed themselves into the cart and were wisked off.  
  
"Vault 687," Griphook said, stepping out of the cart and opening the door. "Your vault, I believe, young sir," he added to Harry.  
  
Harry's mouth dropped open. This was his vault? But there was so much in there! He hastily shoved some galleons, sickles and knutes into a sack before jumping back into the cart and they were wisked down to Draco's vault, which had just as much money in it as Harry's did.  
  
"Wow," Draco whispered, before shoving money into a bag and joining his friends back in the cart.  
  
All that was left now was Jem's vault and boy, did it have a lot in there! Finally they made their way back up into the daylight, where they all saw Hagrid tucking something into a pocket and hurrying away.  
  
"^^Where should we go to first?^^" Harry asked his friends, looking around the crowded street.  
  
"^^Robes,^^" Draco said, while Jem countered him with; "^^books.^^"  
  
"^^How about we get our robes first and then we can go and get our books. After that we can get all of our other supplies.^^"  
  
His two friends nodded and they carefully made their way towards Madam Malkins Robes for Every Occasion.  
  
"Hogwarts?" A nice lad asked when they entered her shop. "Got the lot here, another boy's just getting fixed up as well."  
  
She led Harry down to an empty stood and slipped a long robe over his head. This is why he didn't notice the red haired boy who was standing next to him until he spoke.  
  
"Hello," he boy said, "Hogwarts too?"  
  
"Yes," Harry said, sounding a little muffled because of the robe.  
  
"My father's next door buying my books, and my mothers getting my other supplies. Then I'm probably going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't think it's fair that first years can't have them. What about you, do you fly?"  
  
"A bit," Harry muttered, looking longingly at his two friends, Jem was now getting fitted, though Draco was still waiting patiently.  
  
"Do you play Quidditch at all?" The boy asked next.  
  
"A bit."  
  
"What kind of broom do you have?" It was asked in such a way that Harry felt the boy didn't really care about the answer.  
  
"A Nimbus 2000," Harry smiled, thinking of the gift the teachers had chipped together to get. "It was a birthday present."  
  
The boy didn't reply to that, or say anything else about brooms. He started going on about Quidditch. "I think it's a shame if I don't get on a house team," he said suddenly, "dad says that since nearly all of our family has been on it, there's no doubt that I will be too."  
  
Harry was starting to like this boy less and less, and he just muttered a passable, "Mmm."  
  
"What house do you think you'll be in?" The red head asked finally. "All our family's been in Gryffindor, don't know what they'd say if I wasn't."  
  
"^^They'd probably be relieved,^^" Harry muttered.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
"Nothing, I just had something in my throat."  
  
The boy regarded him suspiciously, but before he could say anything he was set to go and Draco was called up. The half elf accidentally knocked into the red head, causing him to trip and fall.  
  
"Watch it!" The boy snapped, heaving himself up.  
  
Draco frowned. "^^Well excuse me for not seeing you from behind your inflated ego!^^" He spat, causing Harry to giggle. "^^Next time maybe you could try looking, it's not so hard you stupid Weasley! Good thing your brothers aren't like that, or else I'd probably kill myself!^^"  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
They made it to the bookshop without any other incidents.  
  
Harry held the door open for his friends, and smiled as they ran into the shop. Draco went right to the potions section, and Jem to transfiguration, Harry went his own way and quickly pulled down a book on advanced hexes.  
  
"Can I help you, young sir?" A tall, elder man said sharply, nearly causing Harry to drop the book.  
  
"I need the books on this list," Harry said, handing the man his book list for Hogwarts, "three sets, actually, for my friends as well. And then I was going to look some of these books. Thank you." He added when the man took his list.  
  
The man nodded, looking suspiciously at him, but hurried off to get the books Harry wanted. He returned a moment later, holding the three sets and placed them on the ground by Harry's feet. He then looked curiously at Harry, who was now muttering to himself in Elvish. The man shook his head and wandered away. While the man wasn't looking, Harry banished Draco's and Jem's books to them, and placed the one he was holding on top of his pile. Then he grabbed a new one and started thumbing though it.  
  
Meanwhile, Jem was standing on tip-toe, trying to reach a book on the highest shelf. Finally, she frowned and went to find Harry.  
  
"^^Harry!^^" She whined, "^^come and help me get a book. I can't reach it!^^"  
  
"^^I already got our school books,^^"  
  
"^^I see that,^^" Jem snapped, "^^but I want another book. But it's up really high, and I can't reach it!^^"  
  
"Fine," Harry snapped, closing his book and placing it on top of the stack he had hovering behind him. He followed Jem to where the book was, except that now another girl was standing there, her nose buried in a book.  
  
"Excuse me," Harry said, after Jem pointed to the book she wanted.  
  
The girl moved and Harry reached up. The book flew into his hand and he handed it to Jem before wandering off to find Draco.  
  
"What book is that?" Jem asked the other girl, looking through her new one.  
  
"First year transfiguration," the other girl said, pushing some hair away from her face.  
  
Jem giggled. "Oh, so you must be Muggle born then, Grandmamma said that most of the Muggle-born's don't know much magic."  
  
The other girl frowned.  
  
"Nothing personal," Jem added hastily, "it's just, I'm going into first year too, but I'm reading advanced books. But that's probably because I've been living at Hogwarts most of my life." She smiled when the other girl's mouth fell open. "My name's Jemera, but Jem for short. And the grumpy boy's over there are Harry and Draco. They're my best friends."  
  
"Hermione," the girl said. "And if you're so good at magic, then I bet you can teach me loads."  
  
"Maybe," Jem said, "but everybody starts somewhere at Hogwarts Usually at the beginning."  
  
"I've got to go," Hermione smiled, "but I hope I see you soon. Bye!" She waved, picked up her books and hurried over to a tall man that Jem presumed was her father. They paid for her books and left the store, disappearing into the crowd instantaneously.  
  
"^^Are you two ready to go yet?^^" She hollered suddenly, causing everybody else in the shop to drop their books and glare at her.  
  
"^^Keep your bloody ears on, Jem, we're almost done!^^" Came an answering yell.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
"Wands," Harry muttered much later that day. "That's all we need now."  
  
"Like you need it," Draco teased, shoving Harry lightly.  
  
Harry grinned and led his two friends into an old building with peeling letters that spelled out "Olivanders. Makers of Fine Wands Since 382 BC."  
  
They all sat down, arranging their packages against the wall and waited, the dusty air in the shop nearly making them sneeze.  
  
"Good afternoon," said a dusty voice, causing the three of them to jump. "Ahh. . . Misters Malfoy and Potter," I wondered when I'd be seeing you. And Miss Grazer as well. I think we'll start with you, dear," he added, leading the girl over to the counter and pulling a wand off the shelf.  
  
"Try this, Ebony and Unicorn hair, 8 inches."  
  
Jem took the wand, but before she could do anything it was snatched back. "No, no, maybe this, Ash and Dragon Heartstring, 9 ¾ inches." But this wand was taken back rather quickly as well. Finally, Mr. Ollivander rushed deep into the shop and came back holding a dusty looking box.  
  
"I had nearly forgotten about this wand," he confessed, slowly taking it out of the box. "Ash, and Elven hair, 10 inches."  
  
Jem slowly reached out to take the wand, but hesitated before taking a firm hold on it. A strange look filtered across her face and the wand emitted a blaze red and gold sparks.  
  
Next was Draco's turn, but it didn't take nearly as long as Jem. On Draco's second wand, Ebony and Dragon Heartstring, 8 ½ inches, it too, emitted a blaze of red and gold sparks, and Mr. Ollivander looked incredibly pleased.  
  
"No, Mr. Potter," he said finally. "I hear that you are well gifted in wandless magic, so finding you a wand might be a little more difficult, no matter. . ." Ollivander disappeared in the back of the shop and quickly reappeared holding a stack of wands.  
  
"Try this one," he said, pushing a wand into Harry's and. "Beachwood and Unicorn Hair, 13 inches- no, not this one." He shoved another wand into Harry's hand, and then another. A large pile of wands littered the ground before the wand Harry was holding emitted its red and gold sparks.  
  
"Oh excellent, very good Holly and Phoenix feather, 11 inches- yet, how very curious. . ."  
  
Harry looked up, his face puzzled. "Sorry," he said, "but what's curious?"  
  
Ollivander looked very serious. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. It so happens that the phoenix, who's tail feather resides in you wand. Gave another feather. Just one, other." He paused, creeping closer and thoroughly creeping Harry out. "It is curious, that you should be destined for this wand, when its brother. . . why its brother- gave you that scar." He lightly traced the lightning bolt on Harry's forehead. "Thirteen and a half inches, yew. . . if I had known what that wand was going out into the world to do-" he stopped talking and shook his head.  
  
"The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter," he said finally, "it's not always clear why. But, I think it *is* clear, that we can expect great things from you."  
  
Harry took his wand, paid the man and quickly followed his friends out of the store and down the street. He wasn't too sure that he liked Mr. Ollivander too much."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
AN So? Should I continue it? I know that a lot was out of place, such as Dudley at the zoo, but I wanted the snake thing to happen, and who better to torture then Dudley? And sorry about all the characters being so OOC. And really, I have nothing against Ron. He's one of my favorite characters, I just needed someone to be a bastard, and there he was. . . don't hurt me, please?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
REVIEW!! 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Any possibility of me owning Harry Potter is completely bogus. Please do not think that I really own him. Everything you recognize is owned by the great talented JKR. Again, that's not me.  
  
  
  
Summary: Sequel to Living At Hogwarts. Harry, Draco and Jem are starting their first year as students at Hogwarts. Who will they meet? Friends? Enemies? And sometimes, they feel they are living only to die. READ!  
  
  
  
AN This is the sequel to Living At Hogwarts. If you haven't read that, please do so, as it will make much more sense if you do. This story will not be slash in any kind, though it will have loads of characters OOC. Please do not flame, as I have many not so nice ways of dealing with them. Enjoy!  
  
"^^blah-blah^^" = Elfish  
  
  
  
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Chapter 2  
  
  
  
"So let me get this straight," Harry said slowly, looking at Minerva McGonagal in confusion. "You want us to ride on the Hogwarts express, even though we're already at school. And you want us to spend the night in the Leaky Cauldron and take a taxi to the train station?"  
  
Minerva nodded. "I know it sounds strange," she said hastily, "but think of it this way. If you're already at school when the rest of the first years arrive, they'll think of you as upperclassmen. . . we just think of it better this way."  
  
Harry sighed and looked over at Draco and Jem. "I guess it's okay," he said slowly. But all our stuff is already going to be here right?"  
  
The Transfiguration teacher smiled. "Yes, you won't have to lug your things around outside of school. But that does bring up another question. Are you going to continue living with Severus, or move into a dorm?"  
  
"I'll have to get back to you on that one," Harry whispered.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
"^^So you guys want to live in the dorms?^^" Harry asked after he and his friends flooed into the Leaky Cauldron later that day.  
  
"^^Yeah,^^" Jem nodded, "^^think of it this way Harry. It's very likely that all of us are going to be in the same dorm, so we're just closer together. And if we aren't in the same one, it won't really be any different.^^"  
  
Harry nodded; strangely he could understand her logic. The dark haired boy walked up to the counter. "We'd like two rooms please," he said to Tom, the toothless bartender, "preferably with an adjoining door? Thanks," he added as Tom handed him a key and smiled.  
  
The three kids walked up to their room and flopped down on one of the beds. They sat up talking for most of the night.  
  
The next morning, a ministry cab picked them up and brought them to Kings Cross station, and together they tackled platform 9 and ¾.  
  
Harry was awed when he first saw the large train. Scarlet steam engine with smoke billowing out of its chimney. People milling around, first years (who were easily identified because of their scared faces and continual screaming) through seventh (who greeted the three like old friends). Parents frowned at their lack of parental figures but didn't say anything.  
  
"^^Let's get on the train,^^" Draco suggested, looking around and frowning, "^^it's way too loud out here.^^"  
  
Inside the train wasn't too much better, but Draco didn't bother complaining. Soon enough the train left the station and started on the four hour long journey to Hogwarts. Suddenly, the door opened and two identical red-heads popped in.  
  
"I see you three made it," Fred Weasley grinned.  
  
"We were hoping you would be here," George added, "we wanted you to meet our brother, Ron."  
  
Another red head entered the compartment, and Draco immediately groaned. "^^Not him,^^" he moaned, "^^anybody but him. . . I'd rather eat a hippogriff them see him again!^^"  
  
Jem giggled.  
  
"Hi," the new boy said, somewhat pompously. "I'm Ron Weasley." He had a bit of dirt on his nose, and an air of pride that was semi-covered up with arrogance.  
  
Behind him the Weasley twins rolled their eyes and right in front of him the trio exchanged glances and started talking immediately in Elfish. Ron frowned and turned to glare at his brothers, who shrugged and walked away, grinning madly.  
  
Finally Harry looked up. "This is Jem Grazer," he said, pointing at Jem, "and Draco Malfoy. And I'm Harry Potter."  
  
"Are you really?" Ron asked distantly, as though he had better things to do.  
  
"^^No,^^" Draco muttered, "^^he just says that to make people think he is.^^"  
  
Jem sighed, and looking at her friends she asked. "^^Is it just me, or is this guy really annoying?^^"  
  
"^^It's not just you,^^" Harry muttered, before turning back to Ron. "^^I'm getting that vibe too.^^"  
  
But the red-head wasn't looking at Harry anymore, he was looking at Draco, a look of angry realization on his face. "You," he growled, "you're the one who knocked me over!"  
  
Draco rolled his eyes. "Are you still on about that?" He asked coldly, disinterestedly picking a piece of non-existence fluff off of his shirt. "Well then I'm sorry to tell you that you're a little out of the times, as that happened over a month ago. You've got dirt on your nose, by the way," he added, snickering, "did you know?"  
  
Ron practically growled, his whole face turning red. But without anything to snap back at Draco, he simply turned on his heal and stalked out of the compartment.  
  
The moment he left, Jem jumped up and gave Draco a big hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed, "He was so annoying, I didn't think I could stand his presence any longer!" Draco choked from the force of her hug.  
  
"Your welcome, Jem," he gasped, "but could you please let go of me?"  
  
Jem let go and sat back down in her seat, grinning broadly. At that moment, a smiling woman passed their compartment pushing a cart laded with candy and treats.  
  
"Anything off the trolley dears?" she asked.  
  
Harry dug into his pocked for his money. "A bit of everything please," he said, handing her the money.  
  
"Thanks Harry," Jem and Draco grinned, before diving after the candy he had laid down on the only empty seat. Three and a half hours later, all the candy had been eaten and a girl walked into the still open compartment door, and looked at them all.  
  
"Excuse me," he said softly, "has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one. . ." Her eyes widened. "Jem!" She cried, instantly recognizing the girl.  
  
"Hermione," Jem smiled, beckoning for the other girl to sit down. Hermione did so and smiled at the two boys in the compartment. "Hermione, these are my friends, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter."  
  
"Harry Potter?" Hermione asked, her eyes widening. "I've read all about you. You're in three different books that I've seen!"  
  
"I'm actually in twenty-seven so far," Harry smiled. "But trust me, they've all got the same thing written in them, so there's really no point in reading them all."  
  
"I thought it was twenty-eight," Draco said frowning, the leg of a chocolate frog hanging out of his mouth.  
  
"Nope, it's only twenty-seven."  
  
Hermione laughed before looking at Draco. "And you must be the boy that that red-head was muttering about," she smiled. "I heard that you tripped him or something."  
  
"About a month ago," Draco laughed. "Geez, I can't believe he's still on about that! Stupid maltu {1} that he is. . ."  
  
"Draco!" Jem gasped.  
  
Draco grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Jem, but he really is!"  
  
Harry shook his head. "Don't mind them," he said to Hermione, who was staring at the three of them strangely. "They've always had a weird display of fighting going on. It actually gets rather amusing after a while."  
  
Hermione shook her head. "Well, I promised Neville that I'd help him find his toad. You should be putting on your robes, I just talked to the conductor, and he said we'll be arriving soon."  
  
"I like her," Draco declared after Hermione had left the compartment.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
"First-years, this way! Come on first-years, don't be shy!"  
  
"Hi Hagrid!"  
  
"Hello you three, ready to be sorted? Know what house you'll be in?"  
  
"What ever house that maltu isn't in, I'm happy."  
  
"Draco!"  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
Harry sighed and started following Hagrid, trying desperately to ignore his friends. Spotting Hermione slightly ahead, he called out her name and jogged to catch up. The two of them climbed into a boat, closely followed by Draco and Jem, and they were off.  
  
"Anyone loose a toad? You there! Is this your toad?"  
  
"Trevor!"  
  
"Guess that's a 'yes'," Draco whispered to his friends, before they all started up the trek to the castle. "Ah home," he smiled.  
  
This time Jem sighed, and they silently followed Minerva into the school to the Entrance hall. They listened patiently while she gave her usual 'Welcome to Hogwarts' speech. Before watching as she disappeared into the hall. Moments later she was back, and motioned for them all to line up and follow her into the hall.  
  
She led them straight up to the three legged stool where the sorting hat was perched.  
  
"See the ceiling?" Jem whispered to Hermione, "It's bewitched to look like the outside sky."  
  
Hermione looked up and gasped, amazement in the sound. "Wow. . ."  
  
"Now when I call your name, you shall come forth- I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you shall be sorted into your houses." She looked around to see if everyone understood before unrolling her long piece of paper. "Abbott, Hannah!"  
  
A small girl with pig-tails slowly walked up to the stool and sat down. While Hannah was being sorted, Harry was looking up at the teachers table, smiling at them all. But when his eyes landed on Professor Quirrell, who had taken Sirius' place this year, a sharp pain shot through his head. He winced, but otherwise hid his pain.  
  
Finally, it was Hermione's turn to be sorted. She practically ran up to the stool and eagerly jammed the hat on her head.  
  
"Gryffindor!"  
  
Then it was Jem's turn.  
  
"Gryffindor!"  
  
A boy named Gregory Goyle was next, (Hufflepuff!) And then Neville Longbottem (Gryffindor!) was after him.  
  
Then it was Draco's turn.  
  
"Gryffindor!"  
  
Finally, it was Harry's turn. He slowly walked up to the stool and slipped the hat over his head.  
  
"Ah, Mr. Potter. Nice to finally see the inside of your mind. You do understand that you are perfectly able to go into any house. You have every quality for each of them. Some stronger then others, of course. . . maybe you wouldn't be so great in Hufflepuff, as you aren't exactly patient, but still..." the hat 'hummed, "but in contrast, you would be great in Slytherin- but still, do you have a preference?"  
  
Harry smiled internally. //Gryffindor?// He requested of the hat.  
  
"Gryffindor!"  
  
The Gryffindor table let out loud cheers as Harry joined them.  
  
"Great job, Harry," Draco laughed, "really great. I'm glad that I don't have to suffer in this house with Jem alone."  
  
Jem pouted and Harry laughed before they all turned back to the sorting. By this time, a great number of the first year students had been sorted already, and only Ron Weasley and a few other students were left. Then, Ron was called.  
  
"^^Not Gryffindor,^^" Harry and Draco chanted silently, with Jem squeezing her eyes shut, her fingers crossed. "^^Not Gryffindor. . .^^"  
  
"Slytherin!"  
  
The three of them let out a sign of relief before listening to Albus when he stood up to give out the start of term announcements. After that, they dug in to their meal and left for the teachers table.  
  
"Congratulations, you three," Minerva beamed at them. "I'm very proud of you. Can't do any better then Gryffindor." There was a twinkle in her eyes as she shot a look down to Severus, who seemed to be pouting.  
  
"Thank you, grandmamma," Draco smiled, kissing her cheek good-night. She ruffled his hair and pushed him towards Severus and pulled Harry and Jem towards her.  
  
They all said their good-nights before catching up with Hermione and heading up to the Gryffindor dormitories. After that, it was a simple process of debating over beds before they sank into an exhausted sleep.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
  
  
Classes were more or less what the trio expected them to be. Considering how many they had sat in on in the years before. In each class their grades, including Hermione's, went to the top and stayed there.  
  
In beginning transfiguration, the class was given a strict talking to before they took numerous pages of notes. Finally they were each given a match and told to change it into a needle. Only Harry and Hermione managed to complete the task, though Draco and Jem came close.  
  
In their first potions lesson, with Slytherin's as the case was, was actually quite humorous.  
  
The door slammed open, and Severus stalked inside. The whole class, save the trio jumped. Then the man proceeded to give them a stern speech.  
  
"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the exact art and subtle silence that is potion making. However, for those select few who maintain the disposition," he paused, his eyes flashing over to where Harry, Draco and Jem were sitting, right in the front row, before continuing. "I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death."  
  
He paused as a whisper was heard from the back of the room. "Then again," he snapped, "perhaps some of you have come to Hogwarts with skills so formidable that you find it excusable to NOT PAY ATTENTITION!!"  
  
The whisper stopped and Severus made his way to the back of the room.  
  
"Mr. Weasley," he said silkily, "our own Minister's son. . . tell me, what would you get if I added powdered root of Asphodel to an infusion of Wormwood?"  
  
Ron's mouth dropped open, but Hermione's and Draco's hand shot up.  
  
"You don't know? Well let's try again. Tell me, where would you look if I asked you to find me a beazor?"  
  
Ron started to slump down in his seat.  
  
"And what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfbane?"  
  
Ron still didn't answer, though he did sent a glare over at Draco and Hermione, who smirked at him in return.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy, would you please answer my questions, seeing as Mr. Weasley cannot?"  
  
Draco swelled with pride. "Asphodel and Wormwood create a sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death. A Beazor is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and can save you from most poisons. And Monkshood and Wolfbane are the same plant, which also goes by the name, 'Acolyte'.  
  
"Very good," the potions master said, a trace of pride in his eyes. "Twenty points to Gryffindor.  
  
Draco smirked at Ron.  
  
They were then set to make a simple potion to cure boils. Draco and Harry quickly completed it, as did Jem and Hermione. Ron however was working with Pansy Parkinson, and they didn't seem to have a clue to what they were doing. Next to them, Neville Longbottem and Seamus Finnegan, two fellow Gryffindor's, weren't having much luck either.  
  
"Idiot boy," Snape sighed, cleaning up Neville's potion mess, and frowning as the poor boy's skin started popping up with boils. "Take him to the hospital wing," he said to Seamus, before whirling on Ron.  
  
"You, Weasley- why didn't you tell him not to add the porcupine quills? Thought you'd look good if you got it right and he didn't did you? Five points from Slytherin!"  
  
Ron growled and made to stand up, but Pansy tugged him back down.  
  
Finally, the class was over and upon leaving Draco smirked at Ron. "Nice performance in class today, Weasley," he taunted. "Amazing how you knew all of the answers."  
  
Ron growled and took a few steps up to Draco. "Shut the hell up," he snapped. "It's not my fault you don't have any parents and were therefore punished by living inside this dump."  
  
Draco snarled and Harry had to hold him back.  
  
"Back off, Ginger," he shouted. "And next time try not to hit down below the belt. . . if you know what's good for you."  
  
Ron frowned at Harry. "I wouldn't give me lessons on etiquette, Potter," he said threateningly. "Seeing as how you aren't much better." He actually grinned. "It's the parentless trio, hah!"  
  
This time, Draco Jem had to hold Harry back.  
  
"You take that back!" Harry shouted, "You low life scum! TAKE THAT BACK!" Harry started struggling against Jem. "^^Let me go! Let me kill him! Nobody insults us like that, LET ME GO!^^"  
  
But they wouldn't let him go. And at that moment, Severus came out into the hall, a scowl on his face.  
  
"Harry!" He snapped, "What do you think you are doing?"  
  
"He insulted them," Hermione explained softly. "About not having parents."  
  
Severus snarled. "Mr. Weasley, twenty points from Slytherin, and detention with Mr. Filch. And if I hear that you insult these four ever again, I'll see that you're punished as /I/ see fit."  
  
He then beckoned for the four Gryffindor's to follow him into his office.  
  
"Harry," he said, forcing the boy into a chair. "I know that those words hurt, but you've been raised to know better then that. I know you have. And Draco, I know that you don't like that boy, but that is no reason to provoke him like that. Next time, just let it lie."  
  
The two boys lowered their heads. "Sorry Severus," they said in unison.  
  
"Now," Severus smiled, "why don't you introduce me to your friend. She seems very intelligent. Minerva said that she actually managed a complete transfiguration today."  
  
"With Harry's help," Hermione admitted. "I'm Hermione Granger, and your lesson was very interesting, Professor. I liked it very much."  
  
Severus smiled before looking at his clock. "Time for dinner," he announced, "and I hear that tonight's menu is ham and pea soup- one of my all-time favorites." His eyes twinkled.  
  
Harry made a face.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
"I think that this soup is cursed." Harry announced, stabbing it rather viciously with his spoon.  
  
"Potter, Grazer," A voice called from the other end of the table. "I wanted to have a word with you."  
  
Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain walked over and smiled at the two of them.  
  
"I've just received word from Katie Bell that her injury is going to put her out of it for about a year. Jem, would you like to take her place? I know it's only for the year, but I think you would make an excellent addition to our team."  
  
Jem nodded, her eyes sparkling.  
  
"And Harry, we definitely need a seeker. You know that Charlie Weasley left last year, and you were better at age eight then he was at seventeen."  
  
Harry laughed, "Cool!" He laughed. "I'd love to be on the team!"  
  
Oliver smiled. "Great. Practice is tomorrow at seven. Don't be late."  
  
The two nodded.  
  
"And I believe that you both have your own brooms. . . what kind were they again?"  
  
"A Nimbus 2000," Harry said proudly.  
  
"Me too," Jem smiled.  
  
Oliver's eyes glowed. "Great," he said, "I'll see you two at practice. Don't be late!" He walked away, a new bounce in his step. And Draco turned to Harry excitedly.  
  
"And you see Ginger's face when he sees the two of you on the team? He'll probably die with envy!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
AN So, thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far. I love you all! And to answer some questions, (which this chapter didn't answer) yes, the snake Harry rescued will be a part of the story, but whether or not he's important, hasn't been decided.  
  
  
  
PS To whoever asked, because you didn't leave a name. This is NOT going to be a slash story. They're just friends, nearly brothers because they've lived together for so long.  
  
  
  
  
  
And also. . .  
  
{1} A Maltu is a word that I made up. It's an elfish word that basically means something around the lines of 'prat' or 'bastard' take your pick. Either way, it's something incredibly insulting.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Any possibility of me owning Harry Potter is completely bogus. Please do not think that I really own him. Everything you recognize is owned by the great talented JKR. Again, that's not me.  
  
  
  
Summary: Sequel to Living At Hogwarts. Harry, Draco and Jem are starting their first year as students at Hogwarts. Who will they meet? Friends? Enemies? And sometimes, they feel they are living only to die. READ!  
  
  
  
AN This is the sequel to Living At Hogwarts. If you haven't read that, please do so, as it will make much more sense if you do. This story will not be slash in any kind, though it will have loads of characters OOC. Please do not flame, as I have many not so nice ways of dealing with them. Enjoy!  
  
"^^blah-blah^^" = Elfish  
  
/blah-blah/ = italicized  
  
*blah-blah* = bold  
  
'blah-blah' = thoughts  
  
  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-*-*  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 3  
  
  
  
The next night, Harry, Draco, and Jem dragged Hermione down to Hagrid's hut for dinner. But after the poor girl unearthed a bone in whatever it was that Hagrid served them, the four students rather lost their appetite.  
  
"So how are your classes going," Hagrid asked after they had finished 'eating' and were sitting down comfortably in chairs. Hagrid smiled at them, taking out some yellow yarn and his knitting needles. "Anything interesting happening in them?"  
  
"Nothing out of the usual," Jem told him, watching as he counted stitches. "Of course, Ginger has been a prat since classes started, but hey- at least he's not in Gryffindor."  
  
"Ginger?" Hagrid asked, lowering his needles.  
  
"She means Ron Weasley," Draco informed him, "he's in Slytherin and a general pain in our necks. Harry's already tried to kill him once, not that I blame him. . ."  
  
Hagrid chuckled. "I'm sure that the professors will put a stop to him bothering you."  
  
Harry rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to listen to talk about Weasley. So instead, he turned his attention to Hermione, who was reading a newspaper that had been sitting on the table.  
  
"Anything interesting happening," He asked, peering over her shoulder.  
  
"Somebody broke into Gringotts," Hermione whispered to him, pointing at the article.  
  
Harry's sharp eyes skimmed the article, before widening. "That's the day we were there! Me, Jem and Draco- we were there with Sev- I mean, Professor Snape. But we weren't anywhere near vault 713, although we did saw Hagrid at the bank- although I don't think he saw us."  
  
Hermione frowned thoughtfully. "That's weird," she muttered, "I thought you all had really close relationships with all of the professors. . ."  
  
"Just the one's we grew up with," Harry corrected her. "We don't really know Professor Quirrell."  
  
Hermione frowned deeper, but shrugged and turned just in time to see Draco being slobbered on by Fang, Hagrid's enormous boarhound.  
  
They all laughed, with the exception of Draco, who made a face and spent the rest of the visit pouting.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
A few weeks later, a notice went up and Jem burst into the Gryffindor common room, completely out of breath.  
  
"You'll never- believe," she gasped, collapsing down next to where Draco was whooping Harry's butt at chess. "What Grandmamma just put up. . ."  
  
"What?" Harry asked, abandoning the game gratefully and turning to his friend.  
  
"Flying lessons start tomorrow- and we learn with the Slytherin's." She grinned, "And you know what that means. Showing off big time, with our own /personal/ brooms. And grandmamma said that it was okay, too!"  
  
Harry grinned and looked over at Draco who smirked.  
  
"Sounds like fun, Jem," the blond smiled.  
  
But their conversation was interrupted when a shout came from the other side of the room.  
  
"Harry!" Some third year shouted. "Isn't this your snake? If it is, you had better come and get it before this cat eats it whole!"  
  
Harry jumped up and raced across the room. "Raula!" He gasped, using a bit of magic to get his snake out from under a chair. The snake wrapped itself around Harry's wrist and hissed and the cat that was hissing right back at it.  
  
"Okay," Raula hissed at Harry. "I realize that this is a lot better then sitting in some tank all day, but if you're going to let me be chased by cats- can I at least bite them?"  
  
Harry sighed and shook his head before walking over to where the Weasley twins were sitting. He sat down and stared very hard at them, until they looked up, confused.  
  
"What?" They asked at the same time.  
  
"What's with your brother?" Harry asked finally. "He's a real maltu."  
  
The twins looked at each other for a second before turning back to Harry. "Here's the thing," George said finally. "Ron is kind of-"  
  
"Full of himself?" Fred offered and George gave him a sharp look.  
  
"But he's only like that because he's the youngest of six boys, and he has a lot of pressure on him. Not to mention that dad is rarely home because he's the Minister of Magic and all. I guess he just feels the need to prove himself."  
  
"By being a bastard?" Harry scoffed.  
  
Fred frowned. "Okay, so he's a bastard, just don't give him too hard of a time."  
  
"Only when he stops insulting our lack of living parents," Harry muttered, standing up and heading up to the first year boys dorms.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
The next afternoon, Harry, Jem and Draco showed up to flying lessons slightly late, each of them holding a Nimbus 2000.  
  
"You're all in for it this time, Malfoy," Ron snapped, stepping up to them and scowling. "First years aren't allowed their own broomsticks. It's against the rules! They have to be left at home!"  
  
"I think you're forgetting something," Hermione smirked before Draco could retort. "This IS their home. Therefore, they are not breaking any rules. Besides, Professor McGonagall said that it was alright."  
  
Ron scowled at her. "Keep out this, Granger. This is a personal matter between me and the orphans."  
  
"Alright class, everyone step up to a broomstick, and if I see anymore fighting- I will personally have you banned from your broomstick."  
  
The class shuffled towards the two rows of broomsticks and stood next to them.  
  
"Now, stick your right hand over your broom and say UP!" Madam Hooch commanded them.  
  
"UP!" The class shouted. But very few brooms actually did anything.  
  
Hermione's broom rolled over on the ground, and poor Neville Longbottem's didn't move at all. On the other hand, Ron's broom shot up and smacked him in the face, via Harry. The red-head looked most miffed.  
  
"Now," Madam Hooch said once they were all holding a broom. "I want each of you to mount it, and grip it tight. We don't want you to be sliding off of the end." The class did as she asked. "Now, on my whistle, I want you to kick off from the ground, hard. Hover for a moment, lean forward slightly and touch back down."  
  
Looking around to make sure everyone understood, she brought her whistle up to her lips. "On my whistle, three, two-"  
  
But Neville, scared of being left on the ground, pushed off on 'two'. Up he went, like a rocket. Twenty feet, thirty feet, forty feet. They could see his scared, white face peeking down at them before the poor boy fell with a crunch.  
  
Hooch ran over to him. "Oh poor boy, it's a broken wrist. Let's get you to the hospital wing." She turned back to the class. "If I see a single broom in the air, the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say 'Quidditch'." With that, she hauled Neville away.  
  
Suddenly, Ron darted forward and picked up an object that was glinting in the sunlight.  
  
"Look," he called out to his fellow Slytherins, "it's the thing that Longbottem's grandmother sent him this morning." He chuckled and tossed the object into the air.  
  
"A remembrall?" Draco whispered to Harry, who shrugged before stepping up to Ron.  
  
"Give it here, Ginger," he snapped, holding out his hand. "Don't make me hex you."  
  
But Ron, who seemed even more stupid then he looked, jumped onto his broom and soared into the air, only a little wobbly. Harry sighed and lifted up his hand, making a grabbing motion with it. The remembrall flew out of Ron's grasp and into Harry's hands. Harry then placed a dropping spell on Ron's broom, causing it to fall nearly thirty feet, before stopping right above the ground.  
  
"Stupid Slytherin," Harry smirked, pocketing the ball and leaving the pitch, Draco, Jem and Hermione right behind him. All of them were slightly impressed with him, but they knew better then to say so.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
"So, Potter, where did you go after flying lessons today," Ron asked, walking into the great hall and stopping at the Gryffindor table during dinner. "Did you go crying to the professors?"  
  
"Actually," Harry smirked, "Me and Draco went to Hogsmead with Professor Dumbledore. He bought us each a butter beer and some candy."  
  
"Teachers pet," Ron hissed.  
  
In actuality, the four of them had gone up to the hospital wing to visit Neville and give him back his remembrall. After Madam Pomphrey had mended his wrist, they had all walked back to Gryffindor tower and watched as Draco beat Hermione at chess.  
  
"Okay Ginger," Jem sighed, throwing down her fork. "Does this little visit have any relevance? Or did you just feel like making a fool out of yourself again?"  
  
Ron glared at her. "Oh, I just felt like challenging Potter here to a duel, wands only- no contact. That is, if you don't mind loosing to me."  
  
Harry stood up, a glare on his face. "I accept. And Draco's my second- who's yours?"  
  
Ron looked over at the Slytherin table and frowned, sizing up his two shadows, Pansy Parkinson and Vincent Crabbe. Neither looked very favorable. "Crabbe," he said finally. "Trophy room, midnight. Don't be late."  
  
Harry sat back down, a smile on his face.  
  
"You're going to kill him Harry," Draco laughed, "that kid doesn't know what he's getting into."  
  
Harry shook his head, still smiling, and started to finish his meal.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
"We need to leave," Harry hissed later that night, poking Draco in the back. "Wake up! And be quiet, everyone else is still sleeping."  
  
Draco grumbled and sat up. He reached for his clothes and his wand, before joining Harry down in the common room. Jem snuck silently into the room just as they were approaching the portrait hole.  
  
"Hey," she murmured, "are you two really going out to duel with Ginger?"  
  
Draco nodded, not turning around.  
  
"You know that you're going to get in trouble, right?" Jem said. "Filch might like you two, but he's under strict orders to give everyone out of bed detention."  
  
"Only if he can catch us," Harry whispered, finally opening the door and slipping out. He held the door open for Draco, but Jem darted out as well.  
  
"Well I'm coming with you," she muttered, "God knows what will happen to the two of you if you go alone."  
  
"Fine," Harry said, "just keep quiet."  
  
With that, the three of them crept silently through the castle towards the Trophy room, which, thanks to their many short-cuts, didn't take long at all. The reached the room, only to see Mrs. Norris darting around inside.  
  
"They'll be here soon," Draco heard Filch muttered, "It's only a matter of time. . ."  
  
Just as they had come, the three noiselessly disappeared back down the hall, but in their panic, they made a wrong turn and ended up in the charms corridor, which they knew was miles away from where they wanted to be.  
  
"Crap," Harry muttered, kicking the wall. Unfortunately, he missed and hit a suit of armor. The pile of metal fell to the ground with enough sound to wake the entire castle. And most obviously, enough to attract Filch.  
  
Without enough time for anywhere to go, Jem darted forward until she hit a door. "It's locked," she moaned, tugging uselessly on the handle.  
  
"Oh move over," Harry snarled, he touched the handle and quickly opened the door. "Get inside."  
  
The three of them rushed into the dark room, slamming the door behind them. They heard Filch walk down the hall, breathing hard. The caretaker saw the fallen suit of armor, cursed and walked away. Finally, Filch left and the three relaxed.  
  
"He's gone," Draco sighed in relief. "He probably thought this door was locked."  
  
"It was locked," Harry reminded him.  
  
"And for good reason," Jem whispered.  
  
The two boys turned around and their mouths fell open. Standing right in front of them was a humongous dog. *With THREE heads*. The dog was staring at them, growling viciously.  
  
"Get out," Draco yelled, scrabbling for the door handle.  
  
The other two heeded him and ran out of the now open door. The dog lunged after them, but by that time, Harry had already forced the door shut, and they had already begun running down the hall, not noticing if they knocked over anything in their haste. They finally made it at the portrait and nearly shouted out, "pig snout" to get in.  
  
"What do they think they're doing," Draco gasped, sinking down in a chair. "Keeping a think like that, locked up in a school?!"  
  
Jem sighed and sat down next to him. "^^You don't use your eyes, do you?^^" She asked, "^^didn't you see what it was standing on?^^"  
  
"^^The floor?^^" Harry suggested, but neither of them listened to him.  
  
"^^I wasn't looking at its feet!^^" Draco snapped, "^^I was a bit preoccupied with its head. Or maybe /you/ didn't notice. . . THERE WERE *THREE*!!!^^"  
  
"^^It was standing on a trap door, which means it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something.^^" Jem snapped right back. She got to her feet. "I hope you two are pleased. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you think of another clever idea to get us killed, or worse, have grandpapa find out."  
  
She stomped out of the room and Harry and Draco shared strange looks.  
  
"She has /got/ to sort out her priorities," Draco muttered.  
  
Harry nodded.  
  
But that night, Harry just couldn't go to sleep. 'Guarding something' he kept repeating in his mind. The last thought before Harry dropped of was, 'It looks as though we found out where the package from vault 713 is'.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
Although the incident with the three headed dog wasn't forgotten, it was pushed out of their minds for a while. With Harry and Jem constantly at Quidditch practice, and the fact that their classes were slowly getting more interesting because they had finally finished covering the basics.  
  
By Halloween, in charms class, Professor Flitwick finally deemed the class ready to try levitation, something they had all been dying to do since he had levitated Draco into the air and caused the half elf to whirl around the room.  
  
"Remember the nice wrist movement we've been practicing, the 'swish and flick'. Everyone? And annunciate," Flitwick reminded them, "/Wingardium Leviosa/." He smiled. "Off you go then."  
  
Immediately the class was off, all of them swishing and flicking their wands.  
  
Harry, who had paired off with Seamus Finnegan, wasn't having much luck, as he had to keep ducking when Seamus kept pointing his wand in the wrong direction. Draco, who was paired with Neville, was having the same problem.  
  
Hermione, however, was paired off with Ron.  
  
"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" Ron shouted; waving his long arms like a windmill caught in a storm.  
  
"Stop, stop, stop," Hermione snapped, grabbing his wand. "You're going to take someone's eye out. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's LeviOsa, not LevioSA."  
  
"You do it then if you're so clever," Ron snapped, snatching his wand back.  
  
Hermione rolled up her sleeves and gave her wand a small flick. "Wingardium leviosa!"  
  
Ron scowled as the feather soared into the air. Professor Flitwick, however, clapped his hands in glee.  
  
"See here everyone, Miss Grangers done it! Well done dear, five points!"  
  
Hermione smiled, pleased, and Ron slumped down on top of his books and didn't move for the rest of the class period.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
That night at the Halloween feast, Jem kept looking around. "Where's Hermione?" she finally asked, frowning deeply.  
  
Neville leaned across the table. "Parvati Patil said that she was in the girls bathroom, crying. Because of what Weasley said to her after class."  
  
Harry and Draco both glared over at the Slytherin table, where Ron gave them a falsely innocent look. But at that moment, Professor Quirrell ran into the room, in full panic.  
  
"Troll, in the dungeons!" He gasped, running towards Dumbledore. "Troll in the dungeons!" He stopped, swaying slightly. "Thought you ought to know." Then he fell over in a dead faint.  
  
The school went into an uproar. Students started running for the exit. A loud firecracker stopped all sound and movement.  
  
"SILENCE!" Dumbledore shouted, when everyone finally shut up, he started talking. "Now, prefects lead their houses back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."  
  
Harry, Draco and Jem got halfway to the Gryffindor common room when Harry suddenly stopped, and pulled his two friends to the side. "Hermione," he hissed, "she doesn't know!"  
  
With that, the three of them started sprinting back down the way they had come. A foul stench reached Harry's nose all of sudden, and he wrenched his friends into a small nook.  
  
"I think the trolls left the dungeons," Jem whispered weakly.  
  
Draco rolled his eyes. "It's going into the girls' bathroom," he hissed, panic starting to creep into his voice, "HERMIONE!"  
  
But before the three could actually do anything, Severus ran by.  
  
When he had turned the corner, Draco and Harry ran to the bathroom, but Jem quickly followed the potions master.  
  
When Harry burst through the door, the site that he saw terrified him. Hermione was against the wall, the troll slowly advancing on her.  
  
"Confuse it!" Harry yelled desperately to Draco.  
  
The two boys snatched up pieced of pipe and wood, throwing them at the troll, and successfully distracting it enough for Hermione to move away from the wall.  
  
"Oi," Draco yelled, throwing another bit of pipe, "pea brain!"  
  
The troll stopped and slowly started making its way over to Draco, lifting its huge club as he did.  
  
"Wingardium leviosa!" Harry roared, pulling out his wand.  
  
The club flew into the air before dropping back down, right on top of the beast's head. It fell to the floor, unconscious. And moments later, Minerva, Severus and Professor Quirrell arrived at the scene, Jem right behind them.  
  
"Oh my goodness," Minerva gasped, "explain yourselves!"  
  
"Well-"  
  
"What it is-"  
  
"It's not their fault, Professor," Hermione said softly. "It's more mine. See, today in charms we were practicing the levitating spell, and I was paired with Ron Weasley. After class was over, he insulted me and I guess I took it a little too sensitively. I've been up here since then. And if Harry and Draco hadn't showed up when they did, I'd probably be dead."  
  
Minerva frowned. "Is this true boy's?" she asked sternly.  
  
"Yes Grandmamma," they chorused.  
  
"Then no points will be taken from Gryffindor. Ten points will be awarded however, as not many first years can take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale."  
  
Severus sighed, "Go back to your dormitories," he said, shooing them out of the bathroom. "The houses are finishing their meals there."  
  
They nodded and quickly ran back.  
  
"^^Wait till you hear what I saw,^^" Jem said when they had collected their plates and sat down in a secluded corner.  
  
"^^When Severus ran past us in the hallway, I followed him. He went straight to where that three headed dog was being held. But Professor Quirrell was there too!^^"  
  
"I hate it when you guys talk like that," Hermione grumbled. "I never know what you're saying!"  
  
Harry hastily filled her in.  
  
There was a lengthy silence after that. None of them knew what to make of this new puzzle.  
  
"One things for certain," Harry finally said. "Whatever that dogs guarding is worth a lot to somebody around here."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
AN So? Okay, I know that some people really like Ron. But again, I like him too, but hey, a bastard was needed and there he was. Do I really need to explain this again? Thanks again to those who reviewed. Hey, reviews make me write faster, send one and help the cause. Next part, Quidditch and Christmas I hope, not too sure, but it will be along those lines somewhere. Hope you like and please be kind by not flaming.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
REVIEW!!!!!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Any possibility of me owning Harry Potter is completely bogus. Please do not think that I really own him. Everything you recognize is owned by the great talented JKR. Again, that's not me.  
  
  
  
Summary: Sequel to Living at Hogwarts. Harry, Draco and Jem are starting their first year as students at Hogwarts. Who will they meet? Friends? Enemies? And sometimes, they feel they are living only to die. READ!  
  
  
  
AN This is the sequel to Living at Hogwarts. If you haven't read that, please do so, as it will make much more sense if you do. This story will not be slash in any kind, though it will have loads of characters OOC. Please do not flame, as I have many not so nice ways of dealing with them. Enjoy!  
  
"^^blah-blah^^" = Elfish  
  
/blah-blah/ = italicized  
  
*blah-blah* = bold  
  
'blah-blah' = thoughts  
  
  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-*-*  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 4  
  
  
  
"Go on, Harry, take a bit of toast."  
  
"Draco I told you, I'm not hungry."  
  
"Draco's right Harry," Hermione said, giving up on trying to get Jem to eat and moving on to Harry, "you're going to need your strength if you want to beat Slytherin today."  
  
"And remember," Draco grinned, "if you beat Slytherin, you also beat Ginger."  
  
"Enjoying your last living moments, Potter?" Came a cruel, cold voice from above them, "I would be too, if I was playing against Slytherin."  
  
Harry looked up and rolled his eyes. "Good thing you're not playing then, isn't it Ginger?"  
  
Ron rolled his eyes, "just try not to fall off your broom, Potter. It might save you some embarrassment."  
  
"Correct me if I'm wrong," Jem spoke up, "but I seem to recall that you had a bit of problems regarding /your/ broom, only two weeks ago, Ginger. So I wouldn't go giving Harry any tips."  
  
Ron snarled at her, "What would you know, filthy elf!"  
  
Jem growled and jumped to her feet.  
  
"You take that back!" Draco shouted, coming to Jem's defense.  
  
"Like you're much better-you girly little half-elf!"  
  
Just then, Severus and Minerva walked up.  
  
"Weasley," Snape snapped. "Are you bothering the Gryffindor's /again/?"  
  
Ron quickly snapped his head around, it looked quite painful.  
  
"No Professor," he simpered, "I was just wishing Potter and Grazer good luck on their match this afternoon." He smirked and walked away. "They'll need it."  
  
"Fifty points from Slytherin!" Minerva growled at the red-head. "And I don't want to hear that you were tormenting them again! I'm ashamed of you, Weasley! I expected better, even from a Slytherin!"  
  
Jem rolled her eyes and resumed poking her eggs, but Harry continued to watch the two professors, especially the Potions Master walk away. There was a slight limp in his left leg.  
  
"Curious," he muttered, still staring.  
  
"What?" Draco asked around a mouthful of bacon.  
  
"^^Remember last night when Severus ran past us?^^"  
  
Draco nodded, looking up at the Potions Master curiously before turning back to Harry. By this time, Jem had looked up and taken notice of the conversation. Hermione just sighed and buried her nose in another book.  
  
"^^Well, he's limping, so maybe he tried to get past that three headed dog.^^"  
  
"But why would anyone go near that dog?" Jem asked after a rather lengthy pause.  
  
Harry shrugged. "I don't know," he said, his eyes starting to take on a rather unnerving glint. "But I bet I know how we can find out."  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
"^^So let me get this straight,^^" Jem demanded, quickly strapping on her wrist guard, "^^you told Raula to try and get information about that three headed dog?^^"  
  
Harry nodded, but before he could actually say anything Oliver Wood walked into the locker room, his broom slung over his shoulder.  
  
He cleared his throat, getting their attention and summoning them into a group. "Okay men," he said.  
  
"And women," Angelina added.  
  
"And women," Oliver agreed. "This is it."  
  
"The big one," Fred Weasley said, grinning.  
  
"The one we've all been waiting for." George added with a wide smirk. Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, the two chasers besides Jem sighed and shook their heads at him.  
  
"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Harry and Jem in a whisper, causing them to laugh. "We were on the team last year too."  
  
"Shut up you two!" Wood snapped, "This is the best team Gryffindor has had in a long time! We're going to win, I know it."  
  
He glared at them as if to say "or else."  
  
"Right, it's time. Good luck all of you."  
  
Harry and Jem followed the rest of the team out onto the field and watched as their Slytherin counterparts joined them. The match was being refereed by Madam Hooch and she frowned at them all before giving her pre-game speech.  
  
"I want a nice clean match," she snapped, "from all of you." Harry noticed that she seemed to be speaking mostly to Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain, who looked as though he had a bit of troll blood in him.  
  
"Mount your brooms please."  
  
The teams got onto their brooms, and on Hooch's whistle, they soared into the air.  
  
"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Jem Grazer, what an excellent Chaser that girl is, only in for the year, as former Chaser Katie Johnson is out with an injury. Ducking a bludger there and she passes to Angelina Johnson, also an impressive Chaser, quite attractive as well. . ." Lee Jordon, the Weasley twin's best friend, was commentary the match, Professor McGonagall sitting right next to him.  
  
"Jordon!"  
  
"Sorry Professor." Lee amended, before going back to his job. "The Quaffle goes back to Grazer, who passes it to Alicia Spinnet. Oh! It's intercepted by Slytherin chaser Marcus Flint. He's really pelting along there. . . ah! Good bludger work by George Weasley, or is it Fred? Either way, the Weasley twins are very talented. Game back in possession of Grazer, dodges another bludger, passes to Johnson- GRYFFINDOR SCORES!"  
  
There was a round of cheering from the Gryffindor fans, which was, roughly, everyone who wasn't in Slytherin.  
  
"Out of the way, budge over there. . . coming through!"  
  
"Hagrid!"  
  
Hermione and Draco smiled at their large friend and squeezed together to give Hagrid enough room to sit down.  
  
"Bin watching from me hut," Hagrid said, pulling out his binoculars, "but it's not the same as being in the stands." He moved his gaze up to Harry. "Harry seems to be keeping out of trouble."  
  
"Yeah," Draco muttered, staring up at his best friend, before his gaze moved to Jem. "Jem on the other hand seems to be having tons of fun."  
  
"Hey, Draco," Hermione asked, looking at the blond and frowning thoughtfully. "Why aren't you on the Quidditch team? Don't you know how to fly?"  
  
"Sure I can fly, Hermione," Draco answered cautiously, "I learned way back when I was a little kid. It's just that, I err- don't particularly like heights."  
  
"I remember that day," Hagrid laughed. "Poor little kid had just come back from Disneyworld, and Madam Hooch was going to take him and Harry flying for the morning. And Draco ran away! He actually managed to get into the Gryffindor common room before anybody could catch him."  
  
Draco flushed and Hermione stared at the usually unflappable fair-haired boy.  
  
"I was just a little kid," Draco muttered, returning his gaze to the field. "Hey, has Harry seen the snitch?!"  
  
It certainly seemed so.  
  
Up in the air, Harry's heart gave a lurch and he sped after the tiny golden ball. The Slytherin seeker, Terrance Higgs was right behind him, but as Harry was faster, he had the advantage. Closer and closer he got, stretching one hand in front of him-  
  
BAM!  
  
Harry's spun off course as Marcus Flint slammed into him.  
  
"FOUL!" The Gryffindor's screamed, and Lee Jordan seemed to agree with them.  
  
"Red card!" Dean Thomas was shouting up in the stands, "give the guy a red- card ref!"  
  
"Red-card?" Draco asked blankly, looking over at the black boy.  
  
"Yes," Dean answered, "in soccer if you foul someone, you get a red card, and are sent off the field."  
  
"But this isn't soccer," Hermoine said, while Draco shrugged and turned back to the game.  
  
"Still," Hagrid muttered, "he could have knocked Harry off his broom- they should change the rules."  
  
Up on the field, Harry was a little dazed from the jolt he got, but he managed to stay on his broom. The boy was furious with himself for loosing sight of the Snitch- however he went back to circling the pitch, looking around for it again. It was then, that Harry's broom gave a frightening lurch. He went to turn his broom around, when he realized that he had lost all control of his broom. Slowly, the broom started going around the pitch, swerving wildly, trying to swing him off.  
  
"What's wrong with Harry's broom?" Hagrid said suddenly, his binoculars back on Harry. "If I didn't know better, I'd say he lost control of it, but he can't have-"  
  
Suddenly, Hermione grabbed Draco's binoculars and instead of focusing them on Harry, she focused them across the field, right on Severus. The head of Slytherin was staring up at Harry, muttering under his breath. /I knew it!/ she thought, shoving the eye-wear back at Draco and running off.  
  
Draco hardly had time to grab hold of the glasses, before Hermione ran off. He stared after her before focusing where she had just been looking. But he didn't focus on Severus, his gaze landed on Professor Quirrell. The DADA Professor was staring up at Harry, a look of fiery concentration on his face. Draco frowned and moved his gaze back to Harry, who had just been swung off his broom. The Gryffindor Seeker was now hanging onto his broom with one hand. The broom gave another lurch before suddenly stopping all movement.  
  
Harry was able to climb back onto the broom before diving towards the ground, landing on all fours. He coughed and something fell out into his hand.  
  
"I'VE GOT THE SNITCH!" He yelled.  
  
"He's won it!" Draco yelled, running down the stairs out onto the field. He pushed through the crowds surrounding his best friend and wrapped the other boy in a tight hug. "That was great Harry!" He cried.  
  
Suddenly, Severus was standing right behind them. "Congratulations, Harry," the man said, "It was a great game."  
  
And in the background, Harry could see Ron Weasley stomping back up to the castle, his two shadows right behind him, shooting dark looks back to the field.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
After the game, the Gryffindor four went with Hagrid down to his hut for a cup of tea.  
  
"I don't care what you think about Snape," Hermione said stubbornly, "I still think he was jinxing Harry's broom."  
  
"He wouldn't!" Draco snapped her. "We've know Severus forever! He's one of the nicest people in the world! He would never hurt one of us! Besides, after you ran off, I looked over there and I noticed that Professor Quirrell was concentrating really hard too, what does that tell you?"  
  
Hermione didn't answer. "I agree with Draco," Jem whispered finally, "I know he's not one of the nicest people in the world on the outside, but my first memory of him is him smiling at me, saying that he'd try to keep me at Hogwarts. I know it sounds weird, but I trust him, we all do."  
  
Hermione huffed. "But why was he muttering like that, if he wasn't jinxing the broom?"  
  
But for that, they had no answer.  
  
"Again," Hagrid cut in, "why would Snape put a spell on Harry's broom?" He chuckled, "Snape loves you three more then anything."  
  
"Who knows what his intentions were," Harry sighed, "either way it doesn't explain why he was trying to get past that three headed dog."  
  
"Who told you about Fluffy?" Hagrid gasped, dropping his teacup.  
  
"Fluffy?" Jem gasped, spitting out her tea from the shock that someone would actually name a beast like that 'Fluffy'.  
  
"That. . . /thing/ has a name!" Draco asked incredulously, staring up at Hagrid.  
  
"Course he has a name," Hagrid chuckled, "He's mine."  
  
"Well that explains everything," Harry muttered sarcastically.  
  
"I bought him off a Greek chappie I met down in the pub last year. Then I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"  
  
"Yes?" Jem asked eagerly.  
  
Hagrid looked furious with himself. "Look," he said, "don't you ask me anymore questions. It's worth more then my job to tell you that!"  
  
"But Hagrid," Hermione nearly whined, "what ever Fluffy's guarding, Sn- someone's trying to /steal/ it!"  
  
"Look," Harry snapped at Hermione. "Severus is not trying to steal anything. He's not trying to kill us, and he is /not/ the bad guy here!"  
  
Hermione quelled under Harry's murderous glare.  
  
"Now," Hagrid cut in, "I don't want you four to suspect Snape. . . but you're meddling in things that ought not to be meddled in! It's dangerous! What that dog's guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel-"  
  
"Ah-ha!" Harry cried, "So there's a Nicolas Flamel in this too!"  
  
Hagrid looked furious.  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
"^^I don't see what she's got against Severus,^^" Harry muttered to Jem. The two of them were in the library, trying to finish their homework and find information on Nicolas Flamel. The homework was easy, finding information was a bit of a harder task, and besides the fact that Christmas was just around the corner, made the task even harder. "^^It's not like he was ever noticeably cruel to her in particular.^^"  
  
Jem shrugged and continue flipping through her book, "Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry". "^^Maybe he has a weird aura surrounding him that we never saw before.^^" She suggested.  
  
Harry sighed. "^^But Severus would never hurt one of us!^^"  
  
"^^I know Harry,^^" Jem said soothingly, "^^But sometimes people develop opinions that they just won't change. Like Ginger did about elves.^^"  
  
The boy shook his head and stood up. "Well, I'm done with my homework, you?"  
  
Jem nodded and stood up. "Let's sneak some food from the kitchens and then go back the common room."  
  
Harry agreed and the two of them made their way down the stairs towards the kitchens. However, as they started descending the last set of stairs, a large tree and two feet were somewhat blocking their way.  
  
"Hi Hagrid," Harry said, peering around the tree. "Need any help?"  
  
"Nah, I'm alright, thanks Harry," Hagrid said moving the branches out of his view of the two.  
  
"Would you mind moving out of the way," came a snooty voice from behind them. "Some of us would like to get to our common rooms."  
  
"Pipe it, Ginger, and learn to wait." Jem snapped.  
  
"Speak for your self, elf, and then we can talk about me."  
  
"I might be an elf," Jem growled, pulling out her wand. "But I'm still a witch! I can still hex your pants to rip themselves off of you and run up the corridor screaming."  
  
Harry chuckled at that particular image. "^^Nice image, Jem," he commented, "^^I think I'll be laughing for months.^^"  
  
Jem rolled her eyes and watched as Ron pushed past them and down towards the Slytherin common rooms. "^^One day,^^" She muttered, "^^I'll get him back for all of those comments. He'll get what's coming to him."  
  
"^^I hate him,^^" Harry growled, "^^he doesn't even know /who/ you are!^^"  
  
"Come on," Hagrid cut into their complaining, "come and see the great hall. Looks a treat this year. Much better then last years, I'd wager."  
  
"Hey!" Harry protested, "We decorated the hall last year! I didn't think it looked that bad!"  
  
Hagrid chuckled and started dragging the tree to the great hall. "You two can help me decorate this one, how's that?"  
  
Harry pouted, but he and Jem followed Hagrid up into the hall anyway.  
  
"Say, Jem," Hagrid said after he had set down his tree. "Isn't it your birthday soon?"  
  
"Yep," Jem beamed, "the first of December."  
  
"Oh no!" Harry moaned, "I haven't gotten you anything yet! I've been soooo busy!"  
  
Jem ignored his sarcasm and smiled back up at Hagrid. "Grandpapa said that this year, he was going to take us skiing in Switzerland!"  
  
"Really?" Hagrid asked curiously.  
  
Jem nodded happily before turning to watch Harry decorate the tree with glittering charms, real snow that was enchanted so it wouldn't melt, and balls and stars in all colors imaginable. All of this was done in about five minutes.  
  
When Harry was done, he dusted off his hands and offered one to Jem. "^^Shall I bring her majesty up to the common rooms?^^" He joked, "^^or leave her down here in the company of the teachers?^^"  
  
"^^Common room, I say,^^" Jem laughed, "^^Thank you, kind sir.^^"  
  
Harry mockingly bowed and grabbed her hand and together they went up to the common room to find Draco and Hermione. The two happened to be playing chess, and Draco was kicking Hermione's tail. Granted that Hermione wasn't very good yet and Draco loved the game, but still the half-elf was definitely kicking her butt.  
  
When Harry sat down, Draco looked up. "I saw Raula upstairs in your bed," the blond said. "He was hissing like anything, pretty ticked that he couldn't find you."  
  
Harry nodded and made his way up to the dorm room, where Raula was seemingly, pacing the floor.  
  
"Finally!" The snake hissed. "I must have been waiting for two hours!"  
  
"Sorry," Harry chuckled, picking up the snake and walked over to his bed and drawing the curtains. "We ran into Hagrid and got tied up."  
  
"I'm sssure." Raula snarled.  
  
"What did you want?" Harry asked.  
  
"I wanted to tell you that I got some information on Fffluffy."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Seems that he's guarding sssomething Hagrid took out of the vaultsss during the sssummer. And mossst of the teachersss are trying to protect it asss well."  
  
"So it must be pretty important," Harry murmured. "I wonder what it is."  
  
"Not only that," Raula butted in, obviously pleased about what he was telling Harry, "but your black-haired Professor-"  
  
"Severus?"  
  
"Yesss, that one. He ssseems very irritated with the stuttering one, but that could just be my imagination."  
  
Harry pondered over the new information before going back downstairs and quietly informing his friends. Needless to say, all of them were stumped.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
AN So, what did you think? Sorry that I didn't have Christmas in there, but the Quidditch match was taking more space then I thought it was going to. And then I wanted to put some Ron tormenting in there. . . which also took some time. And for those who DIDN'T read Living at Hogwarts, (the original one) Jem /is/ a princess, from the royal family, and nobody except the teachers and Harry and Jem know it. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I promise that the next chapter will be out soon.  
  
  
  
  
  
REVIEW! I'm aiming for 30 reviews before the next update!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Any possibility of me owning Harry Potter is completely bogus. Please do not think that I really own him. Everything you recognize is owned by the great talented JKR. Again, that's not me.  
  
  
  
Summary: Sequel to Living at Hogwarts. Harry, Draco and Jem are starting their first year as students at Hogwarts. Who will they meet? Friends? Enemies? And sometimes, they feel they are living only to die. READ!  
  
  
  
AN This is the sequel to Living at Hogwarts. If you haven't read that, please do so, as it will make much more sense if you do. This story will not be slash in any kind, though it will have loads of characters OOC. Please do not flame, as I have many not so nice ways of dealing with them. Enjoy!  
  
"^^blah-blah^^" = Elfish  
  
/blah-blah/ = italicized  
  
*blah-blah* = bold  
  
'blah-blah' = thoughts  
  
  
  
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 5  
  
  
  
After Jem's birthday, where Albus did indeed take them skiing for the weekend, the Christmas holidays seemed to gallop towards them. And in almost no time at all, Hermione had packed all of her things and hugged them each good-bye.  
  
"Remember to look for information on Flamel," she said quietly, glancing around to make sure that nobody was listening to them.  
  
Draco groaned, "We've looked a hundred times!" He complained.  
  
Jem pretended to pass out on the ground and Harry rolled his eyes.  
  
Hermione leaned in closer, "not in the restricted section."  
  
Harry nodded, "be sure to ask you parents, it'll be safe to ask them, won't it?"  
  
She grinned at him and stepped away. "Very safe, as their both dentists. Happy Christmas, you three."  
  
Jem stood up and stared as the bushy haired girl walked down to the carriages. "^^I think we've had a bad influence on her,^^" she said softly.  
  
Harry nodded, and Draco continued to stare after the girl in disbelief.  
  
"^^Was that Hermione Granger?^^" he said finally, turning towards his two best friends. "^^The Hermione Granger that never breaks any rules? The Hermione Granger that would never turn in a homework piece unless she knew it would score ten out of ten?^^"  
  
Harry nodded, laughing. "^^Yes, Draco,^^" he said, "^^the one and only.^^"  
  
Draco shook his head in shock. "^^I never thought I'd hear her say anything like that.^^" He paused for effect. "^^EVER!^^"  
  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
  
Now that the Christmas holidays had really started, Harry, Draco and Jem were having a great time. It was just like life before they started classes. They spent most of their time in the empty Gryffindor common room, talking and laughing with Fred and George Weasley.  
  
They also spent hours on end sitting in front of the fire, roasting anything they could attach to a toasting fork and discussing ways that they could get Ron expelled, which was fun - even if it wouldn't work.  
  
The rest of their time was spent reading about their preferred subjects. Harry was always carrying around a book on curses and hexes. Draco always had his nose buried in some potion book, and Jem was constantly transfiguring their things into strange random objects.  
  
Harry was most miffed when his old teddy bear, Mr. Snuggles, was transfigured into a box of crayons- speaking of which...  
  
"^^JEMERA GRAZER!^^" Harry roared, storming down the stairs, holding the battered coloring tools. "^^WHAT DID YOU DO TO MR. SNUGGLES?!^^"  
  
George, only understanding 'Jemera Grazer' and 'Mr. Snuggles' looked up interestedly, poking his brother as he did so.  
  
"^^What makes you think it was me?^^" Jem asked, a sly smile on her face.  
  
"^^I KNOW IT WAS YOU!^^" Harry shouted, "^^CHANGE HIM BACK!^^"  
  
Jem sighed and pulled out her wand, changing the box back into a ratty old teddy bear. It was the only thing Harry had from his life with his parents, the only thing the Aurrors were able to dig out of the rubble of his house. Harry hugged his bear tightly and rushed out of the portrait hole and down to Severus' room. Along the way there, he ran into with Ron Weasley.  
  
"Potter," Ron sneered, looking down his nose at Harry, he suddenly blinked. "What is *that*?"  
  
"This," Harry snapped, wrapping his arms tighter around his bear, "is none of your business."  
  
Ron suddenly blinked, his eyes locked on Mr. Snuggles. "Is that a teddy bear?" He asked, holding back a choke of laughter. "Oh Merlin, this is precious. Famous Harry Potter has a teddy bear!"  
  
Harry's eyes flashed, and quite suddenly, his wand was pointing directly at Ron's forehead. "Say another word about me," he said, "and I won't even bother to give you a warning before I hex you."  
  
"Harry?"  
  
Harry spun around, his wand disappearing as he did so. "Severus!" Harry cried, "I was just looking for you... I wanted to ask you if you could make Jem to stop transfiguring my things into random objects." He held up the bear. "It's most annoying, and sometimes when I find my Nimbus as a bear, it has bad effects on people around me... especially if I lose my temper."  
  
Severus sighed. He recognized the bear, but he also had overheard Harry and Ron's conversation and decided to play along. "Why don't we talk about this in my rooms..." there was a pause, "by the way, are you and Draco spending the holiday with me this year, or are you going to stay in the dorm?"  
  
"With you," Harry smiled, "do you expect anything different?"  
  
The two of them started walking. "Would you mind moving, Ginger," Harry said, mock pleasantly, "we're trying to go down the hall, and you're in the way."  
  
Ron scowled, but pushed past Harry, continuing on his way to where ever he was going. And Harry and Severus quickly went down to Severus' rooms and sat down on the couch, talking about a whole range of things. Which all, in some way, included Harry's childhood.  
  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
  
On Christmas morning, Harry woke up when Jem jumped onto his bed. He and Draco were indeed staying with the Potions Master over the holidays, and both were happy to be sleeping in their own beds again, rather then in the dorms.  
  
"Wake up!" Jem hollered, successfully chasing away any thought of ever going back to sleep. "PRESENTS!!"  
  
Draco jumped out of his bed and he and Jem tugged Harry out of his and into Severus' room. All three of them then jumped onto the sleeping Potion Masters bed.  
  
Severus woke with a grunt.  
  
"Come on, Severus," Draco pleaded, "wake up! We want our presents!"  
  
Severus groaned and slowly sat up, staring around for his clock. He noticed that Harry was now standing right in front of it, and scowled.  
  
"Good morning, Severus," Harry chirped, grinning and quickly changing the time that the clock said.  
  
"Move, Harry," said man growled.  
  
Harry obeyed and winked at his friends. The clock now read ten in the morning, two hours faster then what it should read.  
  
"Shi- err... Crap!" Severus cried, jumping out of bed and running towards his bathroom. He suddenly poked his head around the bathroom door, the shower water already running and a pink shower-cap on his head. "Happy Christmas, you three," he said finally. "Your gifts are up in the great hall."  
  
The three nodded and quickly left the room, Harry changing the clock back to normal as they did.  
  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
  
When they reached the great hall, a few other students were already eating breakfast. The Weasley twins and Percy, their older brother, were all sitting at the Gryffindor table, but Ron seemed to prefer being over at Slytherin, even if he /was/ all alone.  
  
Harry, Draco and Jem sprinted towards the tall tree at the front of the hall, diving underneath it for the packages addressed to them.  
  
They each extracted all of their presents and sat down to wait for Severus and the rest of the professors to arrive. Severus arrived last, minus the pink shower cap, and sat down at the table, smiling at the three, nodding that they could start to open their presents.  
  
Wrapping paper flew into the air as the three complied.  
  
There were joy filled shrieks (mostly from Jem) as the gifts were uncovered. Candy from Hermione, advanced books from the professors, a Potions set for Draco; from Harry and Jem; a wand holster for Harry; from Jem and Draco, and an updated version of 'Quidditch through the Ages' for Jem; from Harry and Draco. Among those were countless gifts from their other friends and some upperclassman, including the Weasley family, (minus Ron) and a few others. Most importantly of all, at least for now, was the gift that Bill Weasley and Blade Feslin sent them from Egypt, and from Charlie Weasley in Romania.  
  
Dragon hide clothing for each of them. Boots for Harry and Draco; and a skirt for Jem, which reached all the way down to her ankles. And each received a book about Egyptian magic. Transfiguration for Jem, charms for Harry, and potions for Draco. (Did you expect anything else?)  
  
And roughly whittled flutes for each of them, from Hagrid. They each blew them, experimentally, sounding a bit like an out of tune owl chorus.  
  
Needless to say, they were very impressed, and very happy with all the gifts they had received.  
  
They had just sat down to eat their neglected breakfasts, when Albus suddenly walked up to Harry, holding a strangely wrapped gift.  
  
"Grandpapa?" Harry asked, looking up at him strangely.  
  
"Harry, would you come with me please? This gift is very important, but I don't want everyone knowing what it is just yet."  
  
Harry nodded and stood up, following the old man through the Great Hall and through a door at the end of the teachers table, leading into a small classroom that he and Draco had used as a playhouse when they were five. The black haired Gryffindor smiled at the paintings, especially Violet, a woman in a large purple dress.  
  
"Now, Harry," Albus said, drawing his attention away from the paintings and his old memories, motioning for the boy to sit down. "This gift is very special, and I was going to give it to you a few years ago- but I decided that it wasn't the time yet. But now, I think you're ready for it."  
  
He placed the gift in Harry's lap and smiled. "Use it well." He paused before leaving them room. "He loved you very much, Harry." Albus said softly, his hand on the doorknob. "They both did." Then he left the room, leaving Harry alone. The black haired boy stared down at the package in his lap with apprehension and slight fear.  
  
Finally, with trembling hands, Harry slowly undid the cord binding the wrapping paper together, and carefully pushed the paper away. Something silvery slid to the floor, along with a small note, written in handwriting Harry had never seen before.  
  
/Property of James Potter. If this cannot find its way back to me, please leave in the care of Harry Potter, my son. Make sure he knows that I love him./  
  
Harry felt tears welling up and carefully folded the bit of paper, and pushing it into his pocket before leaning over to pick up whatever had fallen. It was soft and light, like a soft breath turned to water, or wind becoming solid, Harry couldn't decide. But what was most important, is what it was.  
  
An invisibility cloak.  
  
Harry gapped at it, letting the material slide over his hands, feeling the silky texture of it. 'It was my dad's?' he thought absently. 'But, how did he get it? They're so rare!'  
  
There was a knock on the door, before Draco and Jem threw it open and rushed towards their friend.  
  
"^^What did Grandpapa give you, Harry,^^" they asked excitedly. "^^He looked really weird when he came back out, it was so strange...^^"  
  
Draco suddenly caught sight of the silvery fabric Harry was holding. "^^It's an Invisibility Cloak!^^" He said, in complete awe. "^^But, how come you got it? They're supposed to be really rare!^^"  
  
Jem pouted. "^^I want one.^^" She said childishly.  
  
Draco shot her a look before turning back to his friend, who looked slightly teary. "What is it, Harry?" He asked, concerned.  
  
"It was my dad's." Harry whispered. "He left it for me."  
  
"Really?" Draco asked, reaching out a hand to feel the cloak. "Well, lets see, put it on."  
  
Harry complied, and his body quickly disappeared, before reappearing behind them. "BOO!" He shouted, causing Jem and Draco to jump and whirl around. With identical grins, the two lunged towards Harry and tackled him to the ground, tickling for all they were worth.  
  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
  
For the rest of the day, Harry managed to forget about his dad's cloak. He spent the rest of the morning with Jem and Draco, having a snowball fight. Then the Weasley twins joined in and they restored to see who could lift the most snow magically.  
  
As it turned out, Draco won, and was the only one of them, not to have a large pile of snow drop onto his head.  
  
"I still say you cheated," Harry sulked, as they walked back up to the castle. "There is no way that all those snowballs just 'came out of nowhere' and somehow didn't hit you."  
  
Jem nodded her agreement.  
  
"Sore loser," Draco grinned, making sure that his wand was still hidden in his shirt sleeve.  
  
Harry shook his head and followed his friends up to the Gryffindor Common Room, where they spent nearly an hour watching Percy Weasley chase Fred and George for stealing his prefects badge. After that, Harry chose to visit Hedwig in the owlry, and maybe send a letter to Hermione, thanking her for her gift.  
  
It also made him ponder what he was going to get for her. 'I'll ask Draco and Jem later,' he promised himself, reaching the owlry.  
  
Hedwig fluttered down to rest on his shoulder, hooting softly.  
  
"Hey," Harry said softly, stroking her feathers, "up for a short trip?"  
  
Hedwig hooted, fluttering until she rested on the window ledge and Harry pulled out a scroll.  
  
"Can you take this to Hermione for me?" He asked. The snowy owl hooted again and allowed Harry to tie the note to her leg. "Thanks, Hed." The boy smiled.  
  
The owl didn't do anymore then hooting again and spreading her wings and taking flight. Harry watched her until she was a tiny dot in the clouds. Then, he headed back up to the teachers quarters- going straight to Minerva's rooms.  
  
"Grandmamma!" He called, knocking on the door. "Can I ask you something?"  
  
Minerva opened the door and smiled down at him. "What is it, Harry?" She asked.  
  
"You- taught my dad when he was here at Hogwarts, right?" Harry started. Minerva nodded. "Could you tell me what he was like?"  
  
And that's how Harry spent his Christmas afternoon.  
  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
  
By the time the Gryffindor trio had decided to go up to bed, Harry had long since decided that he needed to do a bit of wandering. And, what better to wander with, then his dad's old invisibility cloak? He slipped out of bed and carefully removed the silky cloth from under his pillow, before draping it over his body.  
  
He stood there for a moment, breathing in the smell that could only be James Potter. Pumpkin juice and the forbidden forest, fire smoke and chocolate. Harry smiled softly and quickly made his way out of his and Draco's room, through Severus' living room and out into the hallway.  
  
Now, where to go?  
  
Harry started off in a random direction, smiling as he passed ghosts and sleeping paintings, undetected. The corridor was extremely dark, the only light coming from small slit windows. Harry wandered slowly, turning corners at random, not caring where he went.  
  
He suddenly blinked. How did he get here?  
  
This used to be where he and Albus worked on his wandless magic when he was still a small child. The two spent hours on end practicing charms and hexes, transfiguration and all sorts of things. Once in a while, Draco and Jem would come along and Albus would help the three together.  
  
Draco, of course, being a magical translator, meaning that he was born with the gift to understand and speak any language that he heard, and sometimes, even pass his gift on to others, which he did to his two best friends. And Jem, being the princess of a french High Elven clan that had been mostly whipped out due to a mugger disease, and also a very strong and powerful witch.  
  
This must have been one of Harry's favorite rooms in the castle. He stepped inside, smiling softly. It was empty, of course, abandoned and cold. Except for...  
  
A mirror.  
  
A very old mirror, Harry noticed, moving to stand in front of it, wanting to see what it was like to not have a reflection. He jumped back in surprise.  
  
He *did* have a reflection! Not only that, but there were other people all around him! Harry took another look at the mirror, his brow wrinkled in thought when he saw an inscription. "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi."  
  
Suddenly, it dawned on him. The inscription was a reflection of what the mirror did.  
  
"I show not your face, but your hearts desire," Harry whispered, stepping close to the mirror again. And again, he saw the people, but this time he did not jump back. Instead he peered closely at the people he only recognized from photographs. And smiled.  
  
"Mum," he whispered, reaching up with one hand to touch the glass lightly. "Dad." His parents nodded, smiling widely at him, mouthing "I love you's" and "I miss you's".  
  
And Harry, even knowing that it wasn't real, still felt his eyes prickling with tears. He slowly put his cloak back on and began the trek back towards the dungeons, this time passing nobody.  
  
He got back and swiftly climbed into bed with Draco, something he always did when he was sad and depressed. It didn't matter to them, they were as close, if not closer, then brothers and Draco always did the same. And Draco, did little more then move over to make enough room and open his eyes slightly.  
  
"^^What's wrong?^^" He whispered.  
  
Harry shook his head. "^^I'll tell you in the morning, okay?^^"  
  
Draco frowned but nodded. And they both fell back asleep.  
  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
  
Harry woke up when the bed changed positions, caused by Jem sitting down gently. The bed moved again, this time it was Draco.  
  
"^^Alright, Harry,^^" Draco said sternly, "^^what's wrong? You haven't slept in my bed since you were nine, what happened?^^"  
  
Harry sighed. "^^I went out wandering last night.^^" He whispered, "and I found this mirror. It's kind of hard to explain...^^"  
  
"^^Do it anyway.^^" Jem demanded.  
  
"^^Well, when I looked into the mirror, I saw my-^^"  
  
"^^Reflection?^^"  
  
"^^My parents.^^" Harry said, his voice even quieter. "^^It really hurt, and well, I've seen their pictures and everything, but this time it was like they were talking to me... and...^^"  
  
"Show me," Jem demanded, switching to English all of a sudden. "I want to see it."  
  
"See what?" Severus asked, poking his head into the room. His eyes immediately went worried when he saw Harry in Draco's bed. "Harry, what's wrong?"  
  
"I just-"  
  
"Did you have another vision?"  
  
Harry shook his head. "It was just a bad dream, no big deal. And Jem wanted me to show her the boxers that somebody got Professor Flitwick for Christmas."  
  
Severus cringed, "Well, I am going to forbid *that* action, no offence, Jem, but that's really disgusting."  
  
Jem managed a weak smile. Before turning to Harry and glaring heatedly at him. The glare remained on her face for the most part of the day.  
  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
  
That night, Harry and Draco met Jem in the Entrance Hall, but unfortunately, they weren't alone. Peeves, the poltergeist, was bouncing around in the stairs, and Mrs. Norris was sniffing around the Entrance Hall.  
  
"Great," Jem breathed, "how are we supposed to get past both of them?"  
  
"Walk?" Harry and Draco deadpanned.  
  
And so, they walked. Right past Mrs. Norris, who began to purr as they passed, and right below Peeves, who froze and quickly shot to another part of the castle.  
  
"I don't think he's ever going to forget that joke you two played on him," Jem grinned, "who would have thought that dropping a bag of flour on his head would scare him away..."  
  
The two boys shushed her and continued climbing the seemingly endless flights of stairs to their old training room. They finally reached it, and took off the cloak, Jem and Draco moving to stand in front of the mirror.  
  
"I only see me and Draco," Jem said after a moment.  
  
"Well, maybe you need to look in it one at a time," Harry said. Jem promptly pushed Draco out of the way and stared into the mirror. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.  
  
"^^Mummy? Papa? Is it really you?^^"  
  
The princess let out a sob and collapsed onto her knees, curling into a ball on the floor. "^^I miss you, so much...^^"  
  
Harry and Draco looked at each other before Harry moved to comfort their best friend, Draco moving to stand in front of the mirror. His reaction, wasn't anything like Harry's and Jem's, although, he only saw his father, as he had *no* desires to see his mother. Draco didn't even say anything before turning around and helping Harry pull Jem to her feet.  
  
They brought her back to their bedroom, and spent the rest of the night in Harry's bed, holding each other tightly in their own emotional pain.  
  
Severus peaked in on them when he woke up, surprised to find them all cuddled in Harry's bed. He left immediately and went to find Dumbledore.  
  
  
--oo00oo--  
  
  
Soon, not only Dumbledore, but also Severus and Minerva hurried into the trio's room, each pulling one into a tight hug.  
  
"There there," Minerva soothed, smoothing Jem's long uncombed, blonde hair. "What's wrong?"  
  
Jem shook her head, pushing tighter against the women holding her.  
  
"Mirror," Draco choked out finally, clinging onto Severus, "it- it..."  
  
"A mirror?" Albus repeated, "what did it do? Did it show you something, did it pull you in?"  
  
"Oh Merlin, I wish it did," Jem whimpered, "it hurts so much, Grandpapa..."  
  
Albus looked down at Harry, who was leaning against him, his eyes closed, shielding his emerald green eyes. "It showed us out parents," Harry finally explained. "The thing that we wanted more then anything in the world, and the one thing that we can't have."  
  
The three professors shared a confused look, before comprehension dawned on Albus.  
  
"The mirror of Erised?" He asked.  
  
The three nodded.  
  
"Then, that explains it. I think you've got it right, Harry, when you described the mirror. That mirror, shows neither truth, or knowledge. It shows more or less, the deepest, most desperate desires of our hearts. You Harry, who have never really known your family except for what you were told, see them standing around you. Jem, who lost them at age five, sees them as she remembers, well and healthy, still ruling their Kingdom. And, Draco, who has never even seen pictures of his father, sees him standing proudly, no matter what he does."  
  
"How do you-"  
  
"I daresay that I have more tricks up my sleeve that you have yet to encounter," Albus said, his eyes twinkling.  
  
Draco remained silent, as did the other two.  
  
"Now, remember, men have wasted away in front of this mirror. Even gone mad- not knowing if what they see is real or even possible. Which, is why, tomorrow, the mirror will be moved to a new home..."  
  
"Good," Jem whispered, "that hurt too much the first time, I never want to see it again!"  
  
Albus nodded, pleased. "Now, why don't you three head upstairs for an early breakfast, and then perhaps we can spend the remainder of the day somewhere in the Muggle world."  
  
The three nodded and slowly let go of their Grandmamma, Grandpapa and almost surrogate father.  
  
The rest of the day was fun, spent shopping in London, which helped get their minds off of the haunting images in the mirror.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
AN Alright, sorry about the very long delay in writing, but believe it or not, there was this huge writers block that would *not* go away! And then, my HP books were left at the mall, *glares at Adria* Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, but, it might take a while.  
  
  
  
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End file.
